tocarpus fever. Just recieved 25 streptocarpus from a wonderful Canadian nursery on ebay (violets4you) and have set up a light unit to get them going and growing over the winter months. I have problems, growing them in the greenhouse without some sort of barrier from the misters, and since I am not going to build another "shelter" 'till spring, they will remain in the houseThis woman (Helen) has great gesneriads for sale, and I was taken aback by the size of her starter plants. Usually, when I have ordered streps in the past, the starter plants I received were only plantlets started at the base of a mature leaf.Needless to say, was very pleased with this purchase, and have my eye on a "gaggle' of african violets that are totally different than what I am growing.I have ever only used lights for seedlings and cuttings, so I hope this will work.

Love your streps. I used to grow them years ago.The orchid from Walmart wasn't the bargain I thought it was.It brought mealy bug and spider mites.What to do? I'm getting Neem oil tomorrow.Any other suggestions?When I saw your post I thought you were ill.I'd forgotten that Streptocarpus sounded more like disease than a flowering plant.Joy

Mealybugs and spidermites are the 2 most difficult pests to get rid of. Someone thought they would be nice and bought me a stephonotis vine and set it in the greenhouse. Unfortunately, the plant was infested with mealybugs and it was difficult to eradicate once it had spread to hundreds of plants. It was the only time I used malathon, and found it to work well. Again, Malathon is not available anymore, and I have put a lock on the greenhouse. Any newly aquired plants are kept in quarentine for at least 1 month before I place them with others.I now utilize natural predators in the greenhouses, and in the quarentine I use a spray made up of about 1 teaspoon of insecticidal soap, 1/2 teaspoon of neem oil, a pinch of dried mustard to about a quart of water, and spray daily for about 2 weeks.Does anyone know how long Malathon lasts in it's bottle? I still have about 3 gallons of the stuff and am really not sure even how to get rid of it. I was going to keep it just in case, but I really dont like using chemicals, but gotta admit, that it did the job. I wont even use chemical fertilization on any plants in the greenhouse or gardens

Dan I just happen to have some malathion.I think I'll use it.We are having a warm spell so I'll take the orchids outside and spray them. I have it for the red lily beetles and chrysanthemum beetles. We can still buy it here.JOY

JoyThat should do the job. Gotta remember to rinse off the residue after 24 hrs because of the orchids epiphytic nature.Wanted to also ask you, what are you using for their growing medium? I think I can learn a lot from you, so will probably be asking you a few questions now and then. If I start to be a pain in the bum, let me know

Thanks for the tip about rinsing them .I am growing them in bark chips.When my "blue" Vanda arrived it was in a basket and I was advised to hang it and spray it daily,The plant are in my living room so I couldn't go along with that. I went to buy some bark chips but they were $14.99 for a small bag,then I saw applewood chips for the barbecue and the Vanda is growing in themquite happily so far. I'm still not feeling up to par.so I'm not able to get out and shop.I'd like ti get them in those pottery pellets.They wouldn't break down. I think you know more about growing Orchids than I do butI like to hear from you and will answer any questions the best I can. JOY

Never heard of "streps" before, but think they are pretty neat looking, Dan. I thought you had a bad throat, based on the subject line!

My guess is they are fairly small plants & small flowers? Do hope you'll keep us posted of their progress, especially when they come into full bloom. Love the vivid colors!

And, thanks for your mealy bug recipie! Wonder what part the dry mustard plays? I think the Malathon has an indefinite shelf life, but may not be as potent as it was, originally. You might want to email the company to ask them; most companies are usually pretty good about responding.

If you don't want to risk using it, but want to dispose of it, most municipalities have a disposal site for anything that should not go into regular garbage nor be dumped. Sudbury has a drop off site, thats only open one Saturday a month,,but, they also do pickups, via their "Toxic Taxi". I regularly call for pickup of used insulin syringes, bits of paint and any kind of "unidentified" stuff I have found stored in jars/containers in the basement, fluorescent tube lights from my GH, and even those curly lightbulbs that are supposed to last for several years! Works for me!